1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bus bar connector for connecting a bus bar terminal to a printed circuit board (PCB), and more particularly, to a bus bar connector for directly connecting a bus bar terminal to a PCB without a PCB terminal mounted on the PCB or a fuse connecting the PCB terminal with the bus bar terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
A bus bar (or simply called a bus) is a conductor having low impedance and high current capacity, and can connect two or more respective circuits or join several like points in one system. A bus bar is generally used as a common conductor to distribute electric power to several points.
One type of bus bar is mounted on a bus bar plate and is electrically connected to a printed circuit board (PCB), which is placed below the bus bar plate.
A conventional connection structure of an exemplary bus bar and a PCB is described, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
Exemplified in FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the conventional connection structure of a bus bar and a PCB. Exemplified in FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the conventional connection structure of a bus bar and a PCB.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a bus bar plate 20 is placed parallel to the top face of the PCB 10, which is spaced apart from the bus bar plate at a predetermined interval. A bus bar 22, made of a metal plate, is provided on the top face of the bus bar plate 20.
The bus bar 22 has a bus bar terminal 24 extending upward therefrom, and the PCB 10 has a PCB terminal 12 extending upward therefrom through the bus bar plate 20. The bus bar terminal 24 and the PCB terminal 12 are electrically connected to each other by a separate fuse 30.
Hence, either electric current or electric signal suitably applied to the bus bar 22 is transmitted to the PCB 10 via the bus bar terminal 24, the fuse 30, and the PCB terminal 12 in that order (see arrows in FIG. 2).
The fuse 30 is merely a component, which electrically connects the bus bar terminal 23 with the PCB terminal 12 rather than protects a circuit by interrupting over current when the over current is applied to the bus bar 22 or the PCB 10. The PCB terminal 12 also is a component that simply transmits electric current or an electric signal from the bus bar terminal 24 to the PCB 10.
In certain cases, the bus bar terminal 23 and the PCB terminal 12 may be directly connected to each other without using the fuse 30. However, the fuse 30 is unavoidably used, since there is no suitable component that can electrically connect the bus bar terminal 23 with the PCB terminal 12.
The fuse 30 and the PCB terminal 12 are added to the conventional connection structure, which electrically connects the bus bar 22 to the PCB 10, thereby increasing the number of parts, making a manufacturing process more complicated, and increasing manufacturing costs. Furthermore, spaces for mounting the fuse 30 and the PCB terminal 12 are also required, thereby increasing the size of an entire unit.
Moreover, the top ends of the bus bar terminal 24 and the PCB terminal 12 are fork-shaped to hold the fuse 30, thereby making manufacturing processes thereof more complicated.
The above information disclosed in this the Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.